Summer Extracurriculars and Admissions

Applying to College
1

I’m a rising senior and I’m conflicted about what extracurriculars to do this summer. I was accepted into SSP for Biochemistry, which is great, but it kind of disrupts my original plans.

Originally, I was planning to spend the summer working on my passion projects, volunteering, and conducting research with a professor. I also wanted to start my college essay. But if I go to SSP, I’ll barely be able to do any of that. The program at my assigned campus runs from late June to late July, and we aren’t allowed personal laptops, which leaves me with about a month to do everything I mentioned.

The subject of the program also doesn’t match what I plan to major in (social sciences), so I’m worried it might look out of place compared to my other extracurriculars that are more aligned with my major. If I stick with my original plans, I’d be able to get a head start on my applications and create more impact through the activities I’m already involved in.

I’d really appreciate any advice on what might look stronger for admissions and what makes more sense for me personally!

2

What made you apply to this summer program if it’s not really all that interesting to you?

Do you aLready have arrangements to do research with a professor? Do you have a volunteer thing all set up? If so, I would do those things as it sounds like those interest you.

Re: a passion project…I can’t really comment on this without knowing what you plan to do.

But my feeling is…you should do something you want to do!

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3

ECs needn’t match what you want to study at all. Don’t overthink it.

Do what you want to do ?

Domt do things for admissions. Do what interests you. My kids walked dogs at the shelter and had jobs. Other kids are in band or football or a school play.

It’s $11,800 b4 aid. Pay to play don’t think it’s going to overly impress anyone. I know - you are low income so will be free (if you are QB eligible).

If you have interest or want to validate a love of biochem…great. Today you think you want social science but maybe this will change your mind.

If you want to be home and volunteer or get a job, do your own thing and get started on essays - great.

You have to make the call. Either one is fine but don’t assume SSP is an admission enhancer.

But also note what you study needn’t match your major. Many schools don’t even admit by major. And many don’t care about ECs.

You’re only a kid once. Don’t forget that.

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I would go with the original plan which seems to be more aligned with your future goals. Good luck!

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I think this is only partially true. Application should clearly demonstrate your academic interest and career goal ideally enhanced by other activities (sport, music, art, theatre, etc.). It is best when your profile creates a clear picture and shows things you enjoy (ideally over prolonged period of time).

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Not all activities have to align. People do sports, music, art, etc. But if you spend your summer before application doing something semi-random (semi-random for your particular goals), I would probably wonder why. Your alternative plan seems to strengthen your application better.

7

Many schools don’t even admit by major and many join undecided.

No one at 16 needs to know what they’re doing.

And if you are a no income, full need student, having a summer job and earning money will look much better and would be more helpful than a passion project etc. This way, they have some spending money to try and keep a little up with the joneses at their high end college if they get in one, and a job demonstrates teamwork, responsibility and more.

Nonetheless, the student should choose what they like.

Here is the MIT apply sideways blog which gives some good pointers even as it’s aged. Most importantly, do well in school, be nice, pursue your passion.

Good luck to OP.

Applying Sideways | MIT Admissions .

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Really? The summer before college, my kid was a lifeguard full time. Kid was an engineering major. She worked as a lifeguard so she would have some money for discretionary spending when she went to college. She also really liked being a lifeguard. And her HS ECs had zero to do with engineering at all.

@pineappleconure there is an old saying…do what you love and love what you do.

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9

Colleges know that students often change their major and career goals. Taking different classes, exploring, developing new interests, going outside your comfort zone etc..is viewed as a positive.

Both of my kids held traditional HS summer jobs before college.

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10

I am unclear as to why you are considering doing this program, which it seems you have no real interest in. If you think it will strengthen your application, you are wrong. You should proceed with your plans, which seem much more varied and interesting than this one program which allows you no time to do anything. Just chalk it up to a lesson learned about completing an application and consequently worrying about something you didn’t worry about before you got accepted.

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11

I agree with those pointing out many highly selective colleges in the US are on an exploratory model where you first take a diverse range of courses, and don’t actually declare a major until later, often toward the end of sophomore year. When applying to such colleges, you don’t need to have any firm academic or career plans going in, and in fact it can be a mistake applying to them without being able to persuasively show you value their exploratory model. That isn’t inconsistent with having some developed academic interests, but you don’t have to make everything you do about those interests, and you can be open to exploring new interests as well.

That said, in this case I also agree you don’t seem to actually have much interest in the SSP, so that doesn’t seem like a good use of your time. So I would also suggest sticking with your original plan, noting it doesn’t actually matter if your “passion projects” or “volunteering” have anything specific to do with your academic interests.

And even research could end up being something where you decide you DON’T want to do that. Again, if anything, these colleges appreciate kids with the maturity to understand it is OK to try things out, and then not like them, and then pivot to something else.

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College of Wooster / Indiana University-Bloomington are both great locations for one curious about college campuses. I my view, you were assigned to one of the best campuses from the list of participating colleges. Should be exciting to make new friends & to explore the amenities on campus.

This is a positive factor if viewed as an example of your intellectual curiosity.

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13

I am not saying that no one does it. Many kids do and are still fine (including yours). But for highly selective schools/programs you have to be a bit more strategic.
Working as a lifeguard is a great activity and looks like it was the right choice for your student. But if the goal is to get in a top school/program, then it could be a good idea to do something in addition to a lifeguard job.

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That’s true. But often times students apply to certain majors and with certain career goals. If the school is selective, they want to understand your goals through your application. Having strong stats and scattered unfocused ECs may not cut it.

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If her school is mild to moderately selective, then it is fine, of course. I was basing my advice on scenarios where a student is competing for highly selective spots.

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My two cents is the best way to think about unhooked highly selective holistic college admissions is a combination of meeting certain basic requirements in three areas–academics, activities, and personal characteristics-and then standing out in some additional way(s) on top of that. And they will pick a diverse mix of applicants who stood out to them in a variety of different ways. And actually, more often that will involve standing out in a way NOT related to your academic interests. Trying to stand out academically is actually a relatively hard path to choose.

In this framework, there may be some pretty specific things you need to check off, like a transcript that meets their standard expectations for a successful applicant from your sort of secondary school. But otherwise, they are not so much looking to deduct points for things you didn’t do but could have. They are going to focus on whatever highlights stand out to them among the things you actually did do.

So I really don’t think they do things like evaluate what you did in a particular summer and give you a point score for that. That doesn’t mean you should entirely ignore such periods, but they can be helpful in a myriad of ways. Maybe they help you do better on your classes. Maybe they help you do better in a school activity. Maybe you will develop your social and/or time management skills. Maybe you identify an interest to build on. That could be an academic interest, but it could be a career interest, it could be a service interest, it could in fact be a new hobby, or so on.

I think this becomes a question of understanding what sort of undergrad program you are actually applying for.

I agree there are some undergrad programs where they are admitting by specialty major, or possibly a specialty school of some sort, and they may be looking for qualifications specific to that specialty program. Even then, I do think coursework and test scores can go farther than some people realize, nor is it necessarily a good idea to have NO developed interests outside that specialty area. But having at least some experiences which help show why you are interested in that specialty program could be useful.

But again, other undergrad programs are exploratory in nature. And while some people might be strong candidates for both sorts of program, some people may well seem too narrowly focused, indeed too career focused, to an exploratory program, even if they would seem fine to a specialty program.

Unfortunately, in certain circles, there is a sentiment that every highly selective program is secretly looking for specialist kids, even if they say otherwise. I think that sentiment is wrong, and in fact I think it is contributing to why the admissions rates have gotten so low for some of these colleges. Of course some kids are applying without even being superficially qualified, but others are applying with very plausible qualifications, but also with an emphasis/focus that they think these colleges want to see, but the colleges themselves are not particularly interested in. And then they add to the 95% or whatever of applicants who apply to these colleges and get rejected.

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Some students apply to a major and have a specific career goal… but certainly not all and perhaps not even most (depends on the school). Students are accepted to selective colleges all the time without crafting an application focusing on a specific career goal.

I think the OP should go with what they want to do.

As far as ECs in HS- I am not sure what you mean by “scattered” and “unfocused.” Students should do what they enjoy doing. Having a part time job is also an excellent EC.

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Or it may show a student who is genuinely interested in a variety of things and can bring more than a narrow-minded academic focus to a school.

Agree that OP should do what they are most interested in. There is always a way to weave a story around ECs regardless how narrow or broad they are.

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19

How? the kid was working at least 40 hours a week. Come on! These high school grads also need to be able to enjoy their summers a little.

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Really? Working a full time job not only allows students to earn money…it also shows responsibility, teamwork, problem solving, etc. Lots of transferable skills!

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